Charles Darwin at a green chalkboard.

2000 Darwin Awards

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Honoring Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool--by removing themselves from it in the most spectacular way possible.

Circular Reasoning
2000 Darwin Award Winner
Confirmed True by Darwin

(1998, London) A £200,000 fine was levied against a construction firm for the deaths of two workers. The two 28-year-old men, reportedly experienced in their work, fell 100 feet after drilling a hole through thick concrete without realizing they were standing in the center of the circle. Neither was wearing a safety harness to arrest his 8-story plunge.

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Submitted by: Jim Anscombe, Tony Whyte
Reference: The Times of London

COMMENTS:

Bernard W. Joseph, mathematician: "How could they stand in the center of the circle? If it's a fly-cutter, you would have to keep jumping over the revolving arm. If it's a core cutter, you can't fit inside the tube. This is hard to believe.

Russell Styles: They could have been cutting a noncircular hole in a slab with a diamond saw. Such a hole could be easily large enough for two people.

Bernard: "Any floor of that sort would use reinforcing rods. They would have had to not only chop out the concrete, but also cut the rebar. I still think that it's mechanically improbable.

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